Portfolio

I first got to know paper-cut technique in 2011. The first papercut works I saw were the works of one of the chosen artists of the Bologna illustration festival. What particularly attracted me to papercut was that, unlike the collage, which consisted of many layers and details, we face absolute simplicity and minimalism, and unique forms and shapes can only be obtained by removing the negative spaces from the cardboard. While making papercuts, I realized that I can transcend the physical space I am in and enter an abstract mental realm during the cutting process, an experience that feels similar to meditation for me.

Artistic Inspiration and Themes

My source of inspiration was primarily the papercut artworks of the Portuguese artist Gémeo Luis. Later, during my research in this technique, I met the works of an American artist named Kara Walker, who reflected the African-American women‘s concerns through the papercut technique in her artworks. Walker used to mount his female characters in an attractive way with silhouettes of black cardboards on a white background. A little later, while studying the works of different artists and searching to improve my own technique, I realized that Hans Christian Andersen also narrated many of his stories via papercut forms. Anderson used to cut most of the raw forms on paper, and The style of these forms was very similar to the oriental style and Persian art of the Ghataei (Persian: قطاعی), which closely resembles paper-cut.

Over time, I chose this technique as my main and personal way of storytelling, and based on this, the thematic nature of the works also changed. Through these steps, my works became more connected to my personal and favorite subjects. The general focus of these works is primarily women and nature. As an Iranian artist I realized in Persian culture and mythology, human beings and plants are inseparable. In addition, paper, as a material derived from the plants and emerging from the heart of nature, and myself, as a woman, were combined with above mentioned elements and dissolved in them, and based on this, the four elements of paper, nature, myself, and woman are aligned to the axes became the main subject of the works. These four elements made me immerse deeper into my personal themes and forms and improve my works. In general, paper has been very important to me since the distant past, and before this, during my undergraduate studies at University of Guilan, I used paper itself as the main material and not as a surface for artistic work, in the form of origami or papier-mâché composite works.

As mentioned earlier, it was very important to me that my artwork reflected the environment I lived in, and for this reason, I was strongly attracted to the formalist style. With the passage of time and progress in my work, my forms and works became a combination of my personal concerns and ideas, the forms of Christian Anderson and the ideas left in my mind from Kara Walker, and in this way I gradually reached my personal language and forms.

I believe that no artist reinvents art; rather, all artists’ works are a combination of what they have seen and experienced. In fact, every artist’s work bears the imprint of the people who inspired them, although usually the artists themselves also mark the work with their personal signature. I am no exception to this rule.

Challenges and Resilience

The papercut technique has brought me numerous challenges and demanded significant efforts. During university, I faced many resistances and obstacles; I have always been told by my supervisors that papercuts cannot be directly a subset of painting or illustration and thus, I will not have the proper opportunity to make a name for myself in the artists‘ community. Also, another reason for opposing my papercut works was that in the Iranian artistic community, this technique is only used by a small number of people.

The challenges of final printing for commercial projects was another obstacle I still face, and many professors and publishers were opposed to my work in this technique because of this. The main problem in the publishing industry is the correct reflection of this technique in printing; Because with photography or digital scanning, the original nature of the works is not shown properly. In addition, performing other techniques such as industrial cutting on books and periodicals is not technically possible or cost-effective in Iran. For these reasons and printing problems, many experts insisted that I abandon this technique.

It was very challenging for me to do this technique in the first place and I tried to be able to implement this technique with all kinds of methods, materials and tools possible. Eventually, my insistence on pursuing the technique without categorizing it under one of the common branches of art, along with the continuity and creativity in presenting my works, allowed me to overcome a lot of these challenges. Gradually, as I found the necessary maturity, this technique helped me establish myself within the Iranian artist community, and my works began to find their own place among those of other Iranian artists.

The Process

My way of working is usually that I only accept commissions that are close to my mental space. Even if the commission doesn’t exactly match my mindset, I try to find common ground between it and my own mindset so that I can put my personal signature on the work and still be personal enough to be commissioned.

Regarding the steps of doing the work, I study and observe first and implement the initial plans and sketches on paper. Sometimes I try to find commonalities between real elements in nature and my personal shapes and forms. Finally, based on all the sightings and sketches, I begin the cutting process.

Sometimes, I combine different layers together in a frame or attach them to form a single shape and artwork. I also create installations of my paper-cuts that relate to the space, people, and theme of specific exhibitions.